GoDaddy purchases webhosting firm (mt) Media Temple

GoDaddy gets foothold in more technical client segment with latest buyout.

GoDaddy has purchased Los Angeles-based webhosting firm (mt) Media Temple, known simply as (mt), for an undisclosed price.

(mt) targets a more technical client base than GoDaddy, and the two firms will remain distinctly separate. (mt) will continue to focus on a more technical/developer audience and will not take on any of GoDaddy’s branding.

GoDaddy states the deal will help it get a foothold in the web pro and developer market, and that the firm will be able to rely on (mt)’s technical expertise to improve its own hosting operations. A key part of the deal for (mt) was that it could remain autonomous.

In a blog post on its website, (mt) tries to head off possible criticism of the buyout given GoDaddy’s somewhat low reputation among techies:

GoDaddy has been transformed in recent months and is essentially a fresh firm. If we did not like what we have seen, we would not have joined the GoDaddy family. They have overhauled their leadership team and attracted tech talent from the best-of-the-best. We love “the fresh GoDaddy” that CEO Blake Irving and his team have created, especially their fresh approach with advertising, product focus and UX.

(mt) has more than 125,000 clients and hosts more than 1.5 million websites. While many of these are modest sites, sizable clients include Sony, Nordstrom, The Wall Street Journal, Starbucks, IBM and Volkswagen.

This is the GoDaddy’s sixth buyout in the past 15 months.